Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

The Deputy is a few months behind because we joined with others in making sure the services directive did not go through in the form that he fears. We stopped the process from going ahead in early summer. The proposed services directive, which was withdrawn then, is under consideration in the European Parliament, where hundreds of amendments have been tabled. We are awaiting the Parliament's final opinion on the directive.

The Government has consistently supported the need for a services directive, which it believes is essential for the successful completion of the Internal Market. Ireland has much to gain from such a directive. At the same time we recognise that we must ensure the concerns that have been expressed, including those put forward by President Chirac and I — we were arguing this when very few others were — concerning the views of the ETUC about the directive's implications for workers, be taken fully into account.

The Vaxholm Laval case in Sweden, upon which Commissioner McCreevy commented, has been referred to the Swedish labour court and judgment is awaited. The matter is currently before the court and the issues relate primarily to a Swedish internal matter so I will not discuss those particular issues.

The 1990 Social Charter gives workers rights all over Europe. A total of 35 or 36 provisions in the charter have been implemented and that gives workers protection. However, there are difficulties in some areas and the flags of convenience is one such area. It raises the question of international waters as opposed to European waters. The flags of convenience are for international waters and have always been interpreted as such and the difficulty lies in trying to ring-fence something that is international as opposed to European.

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